Mediums and Storytelling

[Forever Zero]

First off, whenever I don't know where to post a topic, I tend to throw it here out of habit from the old forums. So move it as you see fit, mods.

Now for the topic. I've been noticing something that, frankly, is bugging the crap out of me. Let me give you an example.

Normally when people go to write a novel or a story or something, they tend, for the majority, to lean towards classic fantasy. I personally hate that genre, but to each his own, and that's not the topic at hand. Basically that seems to be the norm for books.

So after seeing this, I asked the same people (my friends on a different forum) what kind of storyline they would create for a video game. The results were... astounding, to say the least. Some of the most amazing, creative and original storyline concepts I have ever heard of.

So, why is this? Why is it that when I present to people a different medium, the quality improves or changes by a massive degree? Why should telling a story in a book be any different than telling a story in a video game, aside form how it is presented? Final Fantasy VII, if written, would probably be an award-winning sci-fi / fantasy novel in this day and age.

I don't get it. For me its the same with all medium, I just chose to stick with video games because they were best suited to the ideas I come up with. But when I ask people to make a story for an RPG when they normally write classic fantasy, I get amazing stuff involving like, interdimensional crystals that serve as the core for all stray souls in the world and whatnot; things I would never see in classic fantasy these days.

I've tried my best to come up with a reason, but I can't. Books, games, movies, if the storyteller is imaginative, he should be able to think of the same quality stories for every genre he or she is presented with. But that doesn't happen. And its not a matter of being able to actually do that genre, because I understand there are people who can't design a video game and there are people who don't have particularly good writing ability. I'm talking about just the fact that the medium is presented causes the storylines people come up with to drastically change.

Any thoughts?

[Magus]

Really? That's interesting o say the least. And you asked strictly fantasy for this, to be fair in means that they didn't all go towards a different genre altogether?

I do write fantasy, it is my favorite genre. But strictly classic-styled fantasy I do find a bit old. I love The Lord of the Rings and enjoy A Wizard of Earthsea. But I don't care to read somebody else's interpretation of those stories. I, like you, enjoy fresh stories. And I find that lately I'm reading a combination of abstract fantasy, non-traditional fantasy and surreal fantasy. And, quite frankly, I find it very refreshing indeed. And my fantasy epic, that I'm still working on the planning, seems to be more and more on the surrealist and abstract side of Fantasy. It keeps with some traditional elements, but works largely against them.

I'm not sure why a different medium would change plot lines people would come up with. But I have to admit that it does disturb me to some degree. Fantasy does appear to be in a sort of bind, a purgatorial slump in creativity and originality. I believe that classic fantasy does have it's place, but that some newness, some freshness, is needed in the field.

[Forever Zero]

I didn't ask them for any particular genre. Same as I asked them concerning books, I asked them about what they had in mind for the written word and they gave me Tolkien rehashes. But then I brought up video games and it was like I opened a completely different door they had sealed off from their imagination. I had no genre in mind for any medium I brought up.

I guess people see that video games have more potential than anything else these days, and on that note I have to agree. They give you a level of storytelling that no other medium can achieve, and I guess people see that level of storytelling and look at it as the only thing that deserves the best of their imagination. While thats peobably an honorable reason, I feel you shouldn't limit your creativity to anything, no matter what, so I guess its all opinionated.

In any case, something interesting to think about.

[Magus]

Yeah. Perhaps Tolkien was too successful for our own good, that rehashes of LOTR are the best that some people can come up with. Oh, well. There is hope in the future.

[Neurolanis]

You know, I think desperation or a sense of speed, pace ... develops creative thinking. In a video game mode of thinking your thoughts go PASSION, ANGER, SPEED. When you set down by a crackling fire with a pin, notebook and a glass of red wine to write a novel ... the pace isn't there!

[Magus]

How do you write with a pin? Unless you intend to write with your own blood I doubt that it'll work out too well for you. Even then...

[Manji]

Hideo Kojima spends years writing his videogame scripts, perfecting the dialogue, and he still manages to stay fairly original.

[Neurolanis]

I just mean that speed can help with creativity.

Um, I only ever write with a pin.

[Magus]

***Imitates old "Got Milk" Commercials***

Got Tetanus shot?

[Manji]

Neuro, not trying to flame or anything so don't take this the wrong way, but Pin is what you used to sow with and put into the ATM machine. A PEN is what you use to write with.

[Magus]

Unless blood is your ink of choice. But use too much of your own and you'll find yourself getting too light-headed to write. Use somebody else's and you're likely guilty of some crime or another.

[Forever Zero]

Its not a matter of what mindset the medium gives the creator. When I think of video games, I think of all kinds of things, same as how I think of all kinds of things for books or movies. There's too much going on to narrow that stuff down.

It all depends on the status each medium has in today's society. Video games are--and I can bet my life on this--the most popular form of entertainment in the world. They have reached a point in thirty years what TV, movies, and books failed to do in fifty. Nearly eight of every ten households has a game console in it.

Because of this, that's what people put their skills into. They see a book and sit down to write one, and they hold back. They hold back with movies and all that stuff too. But those who are avid gamers, when asked to make something for a game, all the bonds break loose and they pump out something incredible.

Why? Well, it's quite logical. Why put your best efforts into one thing, when only 30% of the population you want to experience it will experience it? It makes better sense to use a medium that has a bigger standing in today's entertainment industry.

Now, I'm not saying anything bad about any other forms of entertainment. And I'm not saying all people hold back on anything but video games. What I am saying is this post right here is, for the most part, true about people who are passionate about video games.